WEST LAFAYETTE — Both Brandon Newman and his Valparaiso high school coach, Barak Coolman, used the same phrase to describe the guard's commitment to Purdue.

The Boilermakers "checked all the boxes."

Wednesday night the 6-4, 175-pound four-star prospect ended a recruiting process that began with him striving for attention and ended with him as one of the more coveted guards in the Midwest.

"The recruiting process in itself is very stressful, for any level," Newman said in an interview on 101.7 The Hammer on Thursday. "It's kind of a great sigh of relief. I can take a deep breath and focus my energies into my senior season."

Newman hosted Purdue coach Matt Painter for an in-house visit on Tuesday night. He had originally been scheduled for an official visit to Ohio State this weekend and also included Indiana and Xavier in a 'final four" announced earlier this month.

The Hoosiers, however, landed Cathedral guard Armaan Franklin last week. Xavier and Ohio State are also chasing other prospects at shooting guard and wing.

Purdue clearly resonated with Newman early, even if he had to exhibit some patience for his scholarship offer. Newman visited for a game last season. When that offer came, in April, he called it "the one I really wanted."

Others followed, from major programs. Some could offer some of the same advantages as Purdue: winning traditions, an emphasis on perimeter shooting, stable coaching situations.

None, however, could offer all of those things from a location only 90 minutes from home. When Newman reversed his decision to attend Montverde Academy, a Florida prep school, and returned home to Valparaiso in August, he cited his mother's health as the main factor.

In that radio interview Thursday, he reiterated distance from home was a contributing factor.

"The recruiting game is such a dance," said Coolman, who previously coached another former Purdue guard, Bryson Scott, at Fort Wayne Northrop. "It's a lot like musical chairs in a way because there are only so many scholarships and so many offers and both schools and players are trying to calculate what’s the best fit.

"As things unfolded and other guys started making choices it made it more obvious for him."

Purdue coach Matt Painter continued that dance Thursday when he visited another recent official visitor, Malik Hall, in Kansas. The forward from the same Sunrise Christian program that sent Matt Haarms to Purdue is scheduled to visit Oklahoma this weekend.

Newman told The Hammer he spoke to Hall following the latter's official visit, on Sunday. He reached out again on social media on Thursday afternoon.

Purdue's 2019 class — Newman, Zionsville's Isaiah Thompson and New Castle's Mason Gillis — already ranks as one of the best in the nation. The 24/7 Sports composite of the major recruiting sites puts the Boilermakers 16th overall and third in the Big Ten Conference behind Ohio State and Michigan.

Landing Hall — a versatile 6-7 frontcourt player ranked No. 51 in that composite — would likely push the Boilermakers into the top-10 conversation.

While Hall's courtship continues — Michigan State, Oregon and Texas are among the others involved — Newman's has ended. Coolman said, despite some of the unique aspects of Newman's situation, he handled the process well.

"What was important to myself and my family, they checked all the boxes for me," Newman said. "Once I knew that, there was no more time to waste."

Nathan Baird reports on Purdue basketball for the Journal & Courier. Contact him at 765-420-5234 or nbaird@jconline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @nbairdjc